Morgan Edge is a long-standing part of Superman's expanded supporting cast, but his actual role within that cast seems to have been up for debate for some time. The building blocks of the character have remained more or less intact over the decades; he is a wealthy media magnate and owner of Galaxy Media, the sometimes parent company, sometimes rival of the Daily Planet. He's appeared in many live-action versions of Superman, but as always the exact nature of the character and the specific part he has to play in the larger mythology seems to change from one depiction to the next. We've settled into one particular role that seems to fit the popular version of the character, but also used the character in service to another completely different villain.

Morgan Edge's Comic History

Morgan Edge first appeared in 1970, created by Jack Kirby. Superman's world was evolving, and having the Daily Planet purchased by a larger multimedia company actually seemed like a natural evolution for the newspaper. When I was first reading comics as a tiny kid in the 80's, you often saw stories where Clark Kent was working as a television news anchor or correspondant rather than a writer. This was all part of Edge's influence on the story. He was never depicted as particularly villainous or amoral character, just one small part of the larger new group of supporting characters.

Ultimately, this new crop of characters slowly seemed less and less important, and the comic had to scramble to find uses for them. A storyarc seemed to introduce the idea that Edge was actually the new leader of Intergang, but later it was revealed that it was actually his clone. (comics.)

​After the Crisis of Infinite Earths, it was actually introduced that Edge WAS, in fact, leading with Intergang. This then meant that, like the rest of Intergang, he was actually allied with Apokalips... a pretty sizeable swing toward villainy. From that point forward, Edge seemed to slide in and out of continuity, often being assigned a new role in continuity. Later stories seemed to settle on the idea that he was a conservative television pundit that was outspokenly anti-Superman. After the new 52, Edge (who was notably being depicted as a black man), was no longer an adversary to Superman and was instead the owner of Galaxy Media, a competitor to the Daily Planet.

This seems to actually be the most functional version of the character. While it's always been a major part of Superman's story that he has the support of the Daily Planet, it makes sense that there would be an anti-superman contingent in the media as well. Edge can be that voice, even if he's fueled by jealousy and small-mindedness. This seems like the best way to use him... Although we decided to take one pretty hard detour.

The Case for Morgan Edge as Blackrock

There is no in-continuity connection between Morgan Edge and Blackrock. We've chosen to invent it, because by making Edge the first host to the Blackrock we actually serve both his story, and the story of a minor enemy of Superman's, making them all feel more solidly connected to the larger mythology.

Having Edge descend into actual super-villany has always seemed a bit of a stretch. He serves the story really well as Superman's J.Jonah Jameson... but there will always be this sense of treachery in the character. The Blackrock gives us a unique opportunity to explore that, because he can be a host to the artifact; as much a victim of both it and his own hubris.

As far as Blackrock goes... we actually plan on having Luica Rojas be our full version of the character. It is, however, part of the artifacts story that it has been passed to other people that don't use it as well as she does. So having Edge be the original host, who Lucia has to kill in order to take posession of the artififact, works both with her story AND his. This all works out pretty nicely, actually.